Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is an annual event at which Apple showcases its latest software and tech to developers. In the past, it’s been a fun watch for Apple fans, too, with announcements about major features and new hardware, such as the Apple Vision Pro at WWDC 2023.

However, there are several reasons why this year’s WWDC just doesn’t have me as excited as I was in the past, and most of the reasons are entirely Apple’s fault.

A Virtual WWDC Just Isn’t the Same

In the good old days, WWDC was Steve Jobs in a black turtleneck, blue jeans, and sneakers, standing on a stage in front of a room full of developers. Things could, and regularly did, go wrong. For example, at WWDC 2010, the new iPhone 4 had trouble connecting to Wi-Fi, meaning that it wasn’t possible to show how much better websites looked on the Retina display.

In 2020, Apple couldn’t hold WWDC in person due to the restrictions in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, Apple hosted a virtual WWDC, with all the presentations recorded and streamed on YouTube, the Apple TV app, the Apple website, and the Apple Developer app. However, once restrictions were lifted, Apple didn’t return to an in-person WWDC, and instead continued with the virtual version.

All the keynote presentations are pre-recorded, meaning that the unpredictability has been removed from the events. We will no longer get to see things going wrong because presenters can have as many takes as they want to get something right.

The lack of a live audience also removes some of the atmosphere. If you go to see a live comedian, it’s always much funnier than watching stand-up shows on TV, because you get caught up in the reactions of other people. While a limited number of people have been invited to attend in person this year, it won’t be like the live presentations of the good old days.

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WWDC Is Getting Increasingly Embarrassing

Being able to pre-record content for WWDC has caused Apple to get a little carried away. For example, WWDC 2024 began with some of the Apple team, led by Senior Vice President Craig Federighi, jumping out of a plane and skydiving down to Apple Park. Later in the keynote, a badly-disguised stuntman dressed as Federighi was seen leaping his way through the building using parkour moves, and Federighi even summoned his iPhone to his hand from across the room using what was obviously meant to be the Force.

These stunts served no obvious purpose and were apparently intended to be funny. Instead, they were completely cringeworthy and felt a bit like watching your dad trying to rap. It’s hard to imagine that Steve Jobs would have approved of these segments.

Genuinely Exciting Features Are a Thing of the Past

This isn’t entirely Apple’s fault, but in the good old days, WWDC used to feature some genuinely ground-breaking announcements. For example, at WWDC 2008, Steve Jobs introduced the App Store, which ensured that whatever you wanted to do, there was an app for that. At WWDC 2011, Apple introduced iCloud, which would let you automatically keep all of your music, photos, and documents in sync across your Apple devices for the first time.

These days, however, there are very few things that can be improved in modern smartphones, tablets, or computers. Where once a touchscreen interface was a major breakthrough, these days we’re used to seeing only incremental upgrades. There’s no longer anything at WWDC that you can get really excited about.

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We Can’t Be Sure That Features Will Make It to Devices

This is the biggest reason why Apple has ruined WWDC in 2025. Even if Apple were to announce the most incredible new features ever, I wouldn’t be able to get excited about it because I have no guarantee that the features will make it to Apple devices.

At WWDC 2024, Apple announced its Apple Intelligence features, and one of the most exciting was that in iOS 18, Siri was finally going to get a long-awaited update. It would be possible to use Siri to take multiple actions across different apps, such as asking Siri to edit a photo and then send it to a contact, all with one request. I was really excited about this feature coming to my iPhone.

It wasn’t available when iOS 18 launched, but we were told it would be arriving by the time iOS 18.4 was released. That update has come and gone, and Apple was forced to admit that the feature wouldn’t be ready on time. The latest rumors suggest that the version of Siri we were promised at WWDC 2024 won’t arrive until iOS 19.4, which means an iOS 18 feature still won’t be ready until almost the entire way through the iOS 19 cycle.

Apple has really dropped the ball here. It’s now no longer possible to trust what we see at WWDC 2025 because Apple has proven that it will showcase features that it simply hasn’t got working yet and are, in fact, years away from being ready.

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I’m not a developer, but as an Apple fan, I’ve always enjoyed watching WWDC, so I could learn about the new features coming to Apple devices. In the good old days, these events were genuinely exciting, but the fiasco of announcing features at last year’s WWDC that won’t be available until next year has left a bad taste in my mouth. I’ll still watch this year’s WWDC, of course, but Apple has already ruined it for me.